Boris Johnson says 'we won't throw in the sponge' despite record Covid case numbers

Prime Minister Boris Johnson has told a press conference that Britons "don't want to throw in the sponge" in the ongoing fight against coronavirus.

"I know some people think we should give up and let the virus take its course despite the huge loss of life that may entail," he said in the televised briefing.

"I profoundly disagree. I don't think the British people want to throw in the sponge, they want to fight and defeat this virus."

He said that "we will not hesitate" to introduce further measures, but stressed the Government is hopeful that these will not be needed.

Professor Chris Whitty warned that there was a significant and general increase in Covid-19 cases across the UK, while Sir Patrick Vallance admitted that things were heading "in the wrong direction" nationally.

A further 7,108 cases of coronavirus were confirmed by the Department for Health yesterday, down fractionally from yesterday's record of 7,143, while 71 virus deaths were confirmed.

Sir Patrick said in the press conference that "the number of cases that we're seeing now are picked up because there's much more testing", and that in March and April, "we were seeing 100,000 cases a day at certain times."